In the last post, when I wrote about the sweetness of being
with family at Christmas, I realized that many people have such dysfunctional
families, there is no “Home Sweet Home.” For them, Christmas can be
one of the loneliest times of year. As I thought about this sad reality, I thought
it oddly contradictory, because the message of Christmas is “Emmanuel—God
with us.”
For the disconnected peoples of earth, this has to be the greatest
Christmas message: Jesus came to indwell us, and we will never be alone again.
And not only have the Father and Son made our hearts their home (John 14:23), we
have been raised up with Christ and are presently seated in the heavenlies with
them (Eph. 2:6). So, not only are we His dwelling place; His is ours. Think about that! We are living
in the fellowship of the whole heavenly realm. When Jesus departed this earth, His last words were,
"Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew
28:20). Alone no more.
Walking through the mall the other day, I saw a multitude of ‘holiday’ shoppers rushing from one store to another, in a daze, looking for the next ‘sale.’ A friend told me that she went to the Mall last weekend and was caught up in the moment, spending more than she had planned because the savings were so great. It’s true. Shrewd retailers lure you into their stores with low prices, bewitching you, holidazing you, by the sights and smells.
Of course you know I’m going to take a leap right now into a spiritual analogy. Paul scolded the Galatians for having been bewitched: “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth?" The Galatians were “buying” into false doctrines.
Curiously, the Greek word "bewitched” means to “charm” or “fascinate.” How apt for our comparison to holidaze. From the moment they enter the retailers' realm, shoppers are fascinated and charmed into satisfying their senses. Likewise, this should serve to remind us of the temptations we face. If we are not careful, we (like the Galatians) will be bewitched by the one who disguises himself as an “angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14) into doing things we never intended to do!
